The Arizona sentinel., 1887-01-01
POULTRY PARASITES.
The Most Effective Remedy for the DIs-
 eases Caused by Them.

| tHe Uu>Sio0o HhlOh Plofdl dIuOuHS pour
 try, and the sources from which they
 spring, it is found that they are all due
 to preventable causes, which arise from
 errors in feeding or management. This
 is not much to the blame of the poultry
 keepers, for when we consider the dis
 eases which affect humanity we find the
 majority of them might be avoided by
 due precautions in eating and clothing,
 and in regard to exposure to cold and
 impurities of living. It is not to be ex-
 pected that persons who are unwilling
 or unable to care for themselves will
 care for their fowls. Consequently the
 poultry are reduced in number and
 profit fully one half, and the loss is far
 greater than believed.
 | One of the most common, but least in ,ous, and yet annoying diseases, is that known as "scaly leg" It is this which causes the thickened and disa- greeable condition of the scales of the legs, enlarging the shanks to double the size, producing sufficient inconvenience to cause the birds to nope and suspend the laying of eggs. It is one of the class of parasitic diseases to which fowls are much subject, and is Ike the others of the kind, greatly encouraged by tho unclean condt on in which the fowls are kept Its origin was not known or its character understood until these were discovered by the WI ter some years ago, when by a microscoplcal ex- animation of the enlarged scales theSo +,,, ial- n,.A ened emulation of serum from the skin caused by the presence of minute bur row nc acari, which form galleries un- der the scales, and thus give rise to the disease.
 It is most frequent among the Asiatic fowls, whose legs are large and e covered w'th large, loosely placed scales These offer attractive harbors for these insects, in which they increase enormously and soon become extremely annoying, all the more so that they are beyond the reach of the fowls them- selves. who can not I'd themselves of their tormentors This mite is almost precisely like the acarus of mange, which so much troubles dogs. cats and other domestic animals, and the itch acarus which infests D ,rsons of un clean habits. They arc all indicative of filth, and spread from one individual to an- other with surprising rapidity. In our own yards the introduction of d seased Brahma cock from the flock of noted breeder was the cause of the infection of flock of eighty in few days, and the sudden appearance of the dis ase led to an immed ate invest gation and the dis covery of its nature.
 Fortunately the remedy and the means of preventing it are mple and easy. Crude petroleum or kerosene oil mixed with an equal quantity of raw lnseed oil or castor o l, thoroughly brushed into the scales of the legs, will destroy the mites at once. An ointment of lard and sulphur is not so rapidly effective, but answers the purpose. The more penetrative petroleum is absorbed into the wounded skin and enters the bur- rows and destroys the pests. A repeti- on of the dressing will be required in ten days to destroy the young, newly matched mites, which mature and lay a new brood of eggs in this short period Other parasites are the red mites which are found on the skin at night, busily sucking block and pestering the fowls. Lice, of at least two different kinds, and fieas also infest birds and at times so abundantlv as to be fatal to them. Set ting hens are often driven from their nests by these pests. and the young chicks pine away and perish, and the owner is wholly ignor- ant of the reason. The red mites bur TOW in the shanks of the feathers, ch' efly the wing feathers, and among the down on the hinder parts of the body. When one handles the fowls at nioht an intol- erable itching may soon be felt all over the | ody from the crown of the head to the feet. This IS caused by the inva- son of the person by these invisible pests, which swarm over the clothing and soon penetrate to the skin and be- gin their pumping operations. These are described by a Swedish naturalist, Schiodte, who published a whole treatise upon these parasites. "The insect thrusts its minute beak into the skin and starts its pump to work. The valves are situated in the head, in front of the eyes, and may be seen by the d of magnifying glass, like a triangu ar blood-red spot, which expand and con- IT dtl Nlbll Soon the pulsations become so rapid that several may be counted in a second. The blood thus pumped from the veins of the victim is forced through the alimentary canal, which in its rapid action vibrates from side to side so that its bendings appear Ike the rapid coiling of rope on ships deck" ."
 This blood thirsty characteristic is the same in all these various pests, and hence it is not strange that a neglected flock, turned over to their rapacity should be wholly unprofitable and nuisance to the owner. There is most effective remedy for all these pests; tn is oil, which at touch de- stroys them. The easiest way of apply ing this remedy is to smear it upon the perches and under the wings of the birds, were the ins cts congregate most. The mixture of oil and kerosene above- mentioned has been found completely successful for this purpose against all these parasites. But no remedy will long be ayailing unless perfect cleanli- ness IS observed and the droppings in which the pests breed are removed from the house N. '. Times.
 -Stoneboro possesses a ten-year-old yOunu America of remarkable enter.